


Collapses n' Cuddles

by nevereverever



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Communication, Cute, Fainting, Gay, Hospitals, M/M, Sickfic, Sickness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 09:23:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16134356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevereverever/pseuds/nevereverever
Summary: Jack and Bitty's weekend does not go as planned, but it is okay because they are very in love.





	Collapses n' Cuddles

**Author's Note:**

> Hey folks! At the top of this document when I was writing it said "okie dokie here we go sickfic" which says a lot about me and this story. Enjoy!

Jack was jittery with nervous energy all day. 2 mile longer run than usual energy. His teammates took notice and chirped him about it all day energy. Bouncing in the seat of his car at a stoplight energy. And why was Jack so excited? 

Because he got a whole weekend with Bitty. Even better, a long weekend with Bitty. They had no plans, no events to go to, Bitty assured him he had finished all of his homework. They had 3 ½ glorious days to be together and relax. 

Jack got home from practice and re-cleaned his already cleaned apartment. He made sure there was at least some non protein food in the fridge. He pulled out the little bluetooth speaker Bittle always said he prefered to his phone speaker (Jack couldn’t tell the difference). Once there was nothing left he could do, he grabbed a book he had been meaning to read and sat facing the door. He didn’t absorb anything as his eyes skimmed over the page.

When he heard Bitty’s key in the lock, he bounded out of his chair to meet his boyfriend at the door. He had been expecting him all day, no, all week. What he did not expect was for Bitty to open the door and collapse into his waiting arms.

Not fall into the hug, but full on collapse. Bitty’s knees gave out from under him and he dropped like a deadweight. Jack did his best to lower them both to the ground softly, his heart pounding out of his chest.

“Hey, hey, Bittle, you with me?” Jack pressed the back of his hand to his boyfriend’s forehead. His cheeks were flushed and his skin was clammy. Jack took a deep breath, and smoothed out the crease in his poor boyfriend’s brow.

“What? Jack,” Bitty mumbled, grasping at the hem of Jack’s t-shirt, seemingly more than a little dazed.

“Hey, bud. How are you feeling?” 

Bitty sniffled and threw an arm over his eyes, “Everything hurts and I wanna go to bed. This stupid cold,” he trailed off. He seemed more annoyed than anything else. 

“Okay, well, you and I are going on a trip to the hospital. Can you walk?” If Jack was being honest with himself, it was a rhetorical question. He made motions to pick Bitty up, before realizing he was getting violently swatted on the shoulder.

“No, Jack, we don’t need to go to the hospital. I’m fine.” Jack would have laughed if he wasn’t scared out of his mind.  
“You aren’t fine, you’re burning up, and you just fainted. Sorry, bud, but I really don’t think you’re in a place to make decisions right now.” Jack stood up and very carefully opened the door to his apartment, trying to get them into the car without injury. 

“Jack, please, I’m fine. I’m just a little under the weather. I just want to go to bed.” Jack had to admit, it sounded tempting. He would have loved nothing more than to just set Bitty in their bed and cuddle him until he was better. But something in his gut was telling him not to.

“Bud, I’m trying to tell you, you aren’t. Just let me take care of you.” Bitty responded with a noise that might have been “nooooo” but mostly came out as a groan.

Bitty grumbled on the way to the car, but fell dead asleep the second he got in his seat. He sort of cuddled up with his knees brought to his chest, and he kept making little sniffing noises and dry coughs that sounded like they hurt.

Jack did not follow the posted speed limit.

 

When they pulled into the parking lot, Jack ran to the other side of the car to pick his boyfriend back up, rousing him in the process. His first words when he woke sounded almost like “are you fucking kidding me.”

The waiting room was surprisingly empty. There wasn’t a line for the front desk so Jack could see the receptionist’s eyes widen when he walked in carrying a seemingly limp body. She snapped into action.

“Sir, do you need a wheelchair or a stretcher?” It sounded more like a choice between two options than an offer. Her alarmed tones roused Bitty from his state of semi consciousness. He brought his hand to his face and giggled in embarrassment before the woman could call a colleague to grab one.

“No, ma’am, we don’t need a wheelchair. My boyfriend here,” he clumsily poked Jack in the face, “is being a nervous Nellie about all this. I just have a cold. Jack- ugh- Mr. Zimmerman, you put me down.” Reluctantly, Jack set him on his feet, but refused to remove his arm from his boyfriend’s torso. He wavered a little, but ultimately stayed upright. The woman shot Jack a look that said ‘you’re wasting my time with this?’

“To be fair to me,” Jack sputtered, “he has a very high fever and he fainted.” The woman’s icy glare melted a little, and she handed them some paperwork, which Bitty filled out with shaking hands. Due to the relatively empty state of the ER, it didn’t take long until they were called back into a little triage room. A nurse came in and took all of Bitty’s vitals, and then asked him to list his symptoms.

“Fever, stuffy nose, coughing, headache,” Bitty rattled them off so easily that it occurred to Jack he must have been sick for days. He couldn’t help but beat himself up over it. He hadn’t noticed, and he hadn’t thought to ask. Jack put his hand on his boyfriend’s thigh, and rubbed small circles with his thumb. He didn't really know who he was trying to comfort.

When the doctor walked in, she took a quick look at them, and let out a little romantic sigh. Jack could understand why. While they were waiting in the exam room, Bitty had let his head come to rest on Jack’s shoulder, and Jack started rubbing his his back in big slow circles (definitely, for Bitty's comfort, his arm was in a very weird position). Even the doctor walking into the room wasn’t enough to rouse him from his fevered sleep. Jack panicked for a second, then grabbed Bitty’s hand and squeezed. 

“Bud, the doctor’s here,” Bitty let out a little hmm noise and then sat up, sleepily rubbing at his eyes.

“Hello ma’am, sorry for the...sleeping, I’m a bit tired,” Bitty said with a little yawn. The doctor smiled at them, clearly not bothered.

“Well, Eric, I read through your records and it sounds like you’ve got a bit of flu. You probably passed out due to dehydration or exhaustion. Now, we could keep you here for a couple hours to give you an IV and some fever reducers, or you could go home with this lovely young man and hydrate and rest up. Your choice.” She smiled when Eric sighed and pressed his forehead into Jack’s arm.

“I told you! We’re going home. Thank you so much. Please expect a pie as soon as I can bake without germs getting everywhere.”

 

“I don’t want to say I told you so…” Bitty said, nestled into the covers of their bed as Jack returned from doing their dishes from dinner. Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed a hand to his boyfriend’s forehead.

“You have already said I told you so, several times,” Jack said, settling on the edge of the bed. He couldn’t bring himself to look Bitty in the eye.

“I know, but it felt so good,” Bitty said, smile evident in his voice. He laughed a little, and then broke into a coughing fit that made Jack’s chest hurt just listening. They had talked on the phone, how had he not noticed? Why had he flipped out? Why hadn't this tiny, perfect man realized that Jack was a traveling train wreck?

“Look, I’m sorry Bud. Even if logically I knew you were alright, which I didn’t, I really needed to make sure you were okay. I know that was prioritizing my needs over yours, and I’m really sorry.” Jack got everything out in one long sigh, then looked up to see Bitty looking back at him, eyes full of concern. 

“That’s been stewing around in there for a bit, huh?” He reached for Jack’s hand, threading their fingers together. 

“Yeah,” Jack sighed, letting some of his exhaustion bleed out. He had been holding so much tension, trying to be a good partner, a good caretaker. 

“You made the right choice. I would have done the exact same thing if our places were switched. I was just being stubborn, okay? You did the right thing,” Bitty tapped him under the chin to catch his gaze, “you did the right thing.” Bitty placed a soft peck on Jack’s forehead to cement the point. 

“Please never do that again. Fainting. Don’t do that.” He squeezed their hands where they were intertwined.

“I’m not planning on it, sweetpea,” Bitty replied, sinking fully back under the covers. He tugged Jack down with him and let out a soft sigh when he felt warm arms holding him close. He pulled the covers a little tighter around them, then wriggled until he got a hold of Jack's hand again. He pressed another soft kiss to the calloused skin there.

“Do you need more water?” Jack whispered into the warm, quiet air.

“Yes, but I need cuddles from my big, strong, anxious boyfriend more.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed it or if you didn't, drop me a comment. <3


End file.
